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Fifty years ago this fall, Bobby Fischer and the Soviets staged a stirring battle for supremacy in the small Yugoslav (now Slovenian) town of Bled.

In one of those monthlong, 20-player extravaganzas that pretty much have disappeared from the chess calendar, the 18-year-old American scored a stunning 3 1/2- 1/2 against a contingent of Soviet stars that included world champion Mikhail Tal, future champ Tigran Petrosian and Soviet legends Paul Keres and Efim Geller. Tal, who lost his first game ever to Fischer in Bled, racked up a number of wins against the event’s tail-enders to capture the event at 13 1/2-5 1/2, a point ahead of Fischer and 1 1/2 points clear of Petrosian, Keres and Yugoslav star Svetozar Gligoric.

Serbian GMBoris Ivkov finished in a tie for 15th but snagged the “best game” prize in a field of superstars for his win over Hungarian great Lajos Portisch. The play features a razor-sharp Winawer French line, very much in vogue when the game was played, and an elegant attack by White after the queens depart the board.

The play is murky at times, but there is one constant: Portisch’s king never finds a safe place to hide. When Black’s French pawn center blows up after 17. Re1 e5 18. a4!? Be8 (exf4!? 19. Rxe7 Rxg2 20. Qf8+ Kc7 21. cxd4 Rxf2 22. c3 is messy for both sides) 19. Qe6 Qxe6 20. Nxe6+ Kd7 21. Nc5+ Kc8 22. Rxe5, the white rooks use the open e- and b-files to box in the Black king.

Germany, which produced legends such as early world champions Adolf Anderssen and champion Emanuel Lasker, was the world’s strongest chess-playing nation at the turn of the 20th century - and has been pretty much an afterthought ever since. Seeded 10th going into this month’s European Team Championship in Halkidiki, Greece, the Germans once again were not expected to be in the running against such powers as Russia, Ukraine, Armenia and Bulgaria.

But the German squad, anchored by GM Arkady Naiditsch - the only 2700-plus player on the team - and GM Georg Meier, scored an improbable gold medal in Halkidiki, clinching first with a last-round upset of Armenia. Azerbaijan took silver and Hungary bronze, as many of the pre-tournament favorites didn’t even earn a spot on the medal podium.

In an event littered with upsets, there was none bigger than Switzerland’s Round 7 3-1 win over Ukraine, whose fourth board, GM Zahar Efimenko (2702) was rated 121 points higher than Switzerland’s first board, GM Yannick Pelletier. But Efimenko suffered one of his team’s two losses in the match, falling to a spectacular swindle by Swiss IM Richard Forster.

Black never really justifies his early piece sacrifice (9. … Bxg4?!) in this Sicilian Dragon Yugoslav Attack, but Forster at least serves notice he won’t be going down passively. White eventually returns the gambit to obtain two strong minor pieces for a rook and pawn, and after 23. Nd5 Nxd5 24. Qxd5 Qf4+ 25. Kb1, Naiditsch already is close to a winning positional edge. Black’s only trump card is his passed e-pawn, but some too-casual play by his opponent allows him to collect the trick.